Samsung’s semiconductor division outstripped Intel

In the first quarter of 2018, Samsung Electronics consolidated its position as the leader in the global chip market. For the first time, the company has become the leader in the second quarter of 2017, outstripping the American corporation Intel. According to the analytical company IC Insights, at the beginning of last year Samsung's semiconductor revenue was 5% lower than that of Intel, then the South Korean giant outstripped the rival by 23% in the start quarter of 2018.

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According to the results of the quarter, the sale of chips provided Samsung with revenue of $ 19.4 billion, which is 43% more than a year ago. Intel's results were more modest: an increase of 11%, and revenue of $ 15.8 billion.

Experts attribute the success of Samsung to the ongoing boom in the market for DRAM and NAND flash memory chips. The share of this product in Samsung's semiconductor revenue over the past year has increased by 6%. In January-March 2017, chips of operational and flash memory brought 77% of the total turnover to the company, and the share reached 83% following results of the last quarter. Earlier, in the first three months of 2016, the indicator was 12% lower and was 71%.

It is also noted that Samsung earned $ 3.3 billion on non-memory chips, against $ 3.1 billion in January-March 2017.

According to the established tradition, IC Insights ranked the 15 largest semiconductor companies in the world. It included developers of chips that do not have their own production capacities, and foundry-companies that manufacture custom-made microcircuits. The list includes chipmakers with revenues of more than $ 1.8 billion: Samsung, Intel, TSMC, SK Hynix, Micron, Broadcom Ltd., Qualcomm, Toshiba, Texas Instruments, Nvidia, Western Digital/SanDisk, NXP, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Apple.

The total result of companies in the first quarter of 2018 increased by 26% and amounted to $ 89.13 billion. Industry leaders outperformed the chip industry as a whole, where specialists registered a 20% increase.

The three largest suppliers of memory - Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron - have increased sales by more than 40% year on year. Semiconductor revenue exceeded $ 2 billion in 14 vendors out of 15. A year ago, only 10 companies noted this result.